Announcement - Entomology Collections Network Meeting

[Paul J Johnson]

Recently, I have had a spate of inquiries regarding the 1999 Entomology Collections Network meeting, including the recent public query on this list.  Although the agenda is not yet complete and registration materials are being prepared for mailing in September, a bit of information is now available for people needing to make early plans.

The meeting is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, 11-12 December, at the Georgia Center, University of Georgia, Athens.   Drs. Joe McHugh, John Pickering, of the Entomology Department, and Elizabeth Reitz, director of the Georgia Museum of Natural History, are our hosts.  As tradition dictates, the ECN meeting immediately precedes the Entomological Society of America national conference that runs 12-16 December, in Atlanta.  

Athens is approximately a one hour, or a bit more, drive from downtown Atlanta; shuttles are available from to and from the Georgia Center to downtown and the airport (details later).  Joe McHugh will have the UG Arthropod Collection open and available for visitors on Friday afternoon and evening.  A selection of water extracted botanical alkaloids and other refreshments will be available by 8:00 am, if not earlier, on Saturday.  On site registration will be at the same time (early registration information will be available soon).  Sessions will run from 8:30-12:00, and 1:30-5:00.  John Pickering will host a reception at his home on Saturday evening.  The morning ritual will repeat on Sunday, and a session from 8:30-10:30.  The business meeting will complete the schedule from 10:30-12:00.  The meeting will end at noon on Sunday to allow an expeditious return to Atlanta for those planning on attending the ESA conference, or early departures for those returning home or to the field.

Presently, the tentative agenda includes inventory project reports on the Great Smokey Mtns ATBI, the Coleoptera, Diptera, and Hymenoptera TWIGS of the INBio inventory in Costa Rica, the NAWQA, a biodiversity study of Canadian Great Plains grasslands, and the APHYTIS project.  Reports on various collection upgrades, status, and trends will be made; hopefully, this will also include comments on repatriation issues.  There will be an overview of significant changes present in the new Zoological Code.  Additional topics and issues will include interactive key software, BIOTA, the Canadian Biodiversity Information Inititative, and barcode use and technology trends.  Topics are being added, almost daily, so more is to come.

The business meeting will focus on plans for ECN 2000 in Montreal, and an introduction to matters regarding a possible closer affiliation with ESA.

Organizers for the 1999 ECN meeting are:

Cheryl Barr, U.C.-Berkeley, Essig Museum - cbarr at nature.berkeley.edu
Paul J. Johnson, S. Dakota State University, Insect Research Collection - 
        paul_johnson at sdstate.edu